Home Sweet Home: Simple Ways to Make Your Kitchen Cozier

The kitchen is often the hub of a home, but it can also tend to feel like a stark, cold space (tile floors and an abundance of stainless steel appliances will do that). Luckily, there are some design tricks to warm up the room, while still keeping this area devoted to cooking and eating clean and healthy. With a few design details and accents that add personality, you can inject the entire room with warmth.

Add a Soft Rug

A vintage rug, like the one above from ABC Carpet & Home spotted on Honestly WTF, warms up a kitchen with texture and rich colors. Those buttery leather stools at the counter certainly don't hurt either.

Use "Warm" Materials

Lots of rustic wood makes a room full of clean white tile feel cozier. If you're remodeling, consider balancing the cold materials traditionally found in the kitchen, such as tile and stone, with warmer ones, like wood, leather, and textiles. The designers at Zio & Sons used a blend of both in the room above, found on Refinery 29.

Consider Colorful Cabinetry

We often think of hues on the "warm" side of the color wheel, like yellow and red, as cozier colors, but the deep green above proves that the right shade of any color can achieve the same effect. Paired with modern brass hardware, the cabinetry in this DeVOL Kitchen featured on Greige Design creates an inviting space.

Introduce Un-Kitcheny Items

Bringing in items that are typically reserved for living rooms and bedrooms—such as plants, books, and art—lends warmth and character to a kitchen. In their Oakland studio, Joe and Keith use open shelving to leave even more space for them to display books and collectibles.

Skip the Stark Lighting

Super-bright lighting in a sterile kitchen only adds to the feeling that you're in an operating room. A stunning chandelier, like the one above from Design Sponge, or another fixture you'd expect to find in a bedroom, helps make the room feel more lived-in.

(Image credit: My Paradissi)

Make a Soft Spot to Land

If the kitchen is the hangout space of your home, provide as many soft spots to perch as possible. A bench covered in a pillow pile is ideal, but I love how even this tiny kitchen spotted on My Paradissi offers a cozy seat.

Mix & Match

Just because you have open shelving doesn't mean you should have a matching set of dishes. In fact, a collection of several different patterns and unique handmade pieces bring more personality to the space. In Johanna Bradford's kitchen above, spotlighted on Elle Decoration, both dishware and collectibles line the shelves.